2017 Aerial

Topography

Knollwood Club – Lake Forest, IL

I’m currently working out a few hiccups with something new, but this is the start of something I plan on dong more of. Aerials provide a great overview of a golf course from above. What they don’t do is show any elevation changes that occur within the golf course. This new imaging method is still in early testing for me, but so far the feedback has been positive.

Charles Alison designed the Knollwood Club located near Lake Forest, Illinois. The golf course has gone through a variety of renovations and restorations over time. Two areas that are on the opposite ends of the spectrum are the 16th green and 17th hole. The 16th green has seen a few changes, but the 17th hole, the redan, has stayed true to its original design.

If you’re interested in more examples of redan holes, Andy at the fried egg provides photos and analysis here: Redan Holes.

For reference, the 16th Green is on the top left of the image and the 17th Hole is near the center of the image.

2010 Aerial Image

Aerial Comparisons:

Below are a few image comparison aerials showing the progression of the two holes. While these images do not tell the complete story, they show some of the changes that one hole has gone through.

1939 to 2000 Aerial

2000 Aerial to 2010 Aerial

For reference, the 2010 aerial is the color image in the second slider comparison. The aerials used are from Lake County, IL, the USGS and the Illinois Geological Survey.

Redan Grading

The next three images show the grading of the 17th green. The contours and grading used to direct the ball towards the left part of the green. The first two images use 1-foot contours to depict the slope of the green. The third image uses 1/2 foot contours to show extra detail.

3D Images

Below is the new stuff I’ve been working on. The first image is the current 16th green and the second image is the 17th Hole as it stands today. The 3D viewers are interactive so please click on the image, and look at the shape of both green complexes.

Depending on your connection it may take an extra second or two to load.

16th Green –

17th Hole –

Designed by Donald Ross in the early 1910’s, LuLu Country Club, located in Glenside, PA is currently going through a restoration to bring back the original design. If you follow the LuLu Country Club twitter feed you have had the opportunity to keep up with the restoration.

LuLu Country Club – 2015

Similar to my other Philadelphia Golf Course aerial photos, this historic image was taken in 1950 (Black and White, USGS). The color aerial is a more recent image acquired in 2015 (ESRI).

Comparing the two aerials, it’s very easy to see that the golf course has gone through changes in the last 65 years. Bunkers have moved, trees have grown in, greens have changed shape and fairways are a little different. The color aerial is from 2015 and after looking through the twitter feed, its unclear how up to date it is.

If you haven’t seen what takes place during a restoration, take some time and scroll through the twitter feed. This is one of those projects that covers drainage improvements to tree removal and everything in-between.

My other Philadelphia area Golf Course historic aerials, can be found here:

Pine Valley Golf Club is well-known by all. Located in Pine Valley, New Jersey, it is often ranked number one in the nation by larger golf publications.

Pine Valley Golf Club – 2015

The course opened in 1914 and was designed by George Crump with a collection of other architects including Colt, Alison, Tillinghast and Maxwell. Similar to my other Philadelphia Golf Course aerial photos, this historic image was taken in 1950 (Black and White, USGS). The color aerial is a more recent image acquired in 2015 (ESRI).

Looking at the aerials, its easy to tell the course has remained loyal to the original design. Many of the sand valleys have changed shape a bit over the years and filled in with trees and other vegetation. Without getting a more detailed aerial, its hard to determine if many of the greens have remained unchanged.

Take a look for yourself:

Feel like catching up on the other Philadelphia Courses I looked at? They can be found here:

Designed by Hugh Wilson and opened in 1912, the East Course of Merion Golf Club has had quite the history having been the home to multiple USGA championships.

The Golf Club is located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

Merion Golf Club – East Course – 2015

Similar to my other Philadelphia Golf Course aerial photos, this historic image was taken in 1950 (Black and White, USGS). The color aerial is a more recent image acquired in 2015 (ESRI).

Comparing the two aerials, it’s very easy to see that the golf course has remained consistent over the last 65 years and with minimal differences between the two. Many of the bunkers remain in their original location with only a few added.

If you have missed my other two Philadelphia area Golf Course historic aerials, they can be found here:

I had no idea what Philadelphia golf was like until I came up with the idea to do a series that focused on a few of the golf courses in the area. After looking at several of the courses, it became evident to me that some of the best golf courses in the nation, might be located in and around Philadelphia.

Andy at the fried egg provides a great summary to the history of Manufactures’ Golf and Country club in addition to photos that put you on the golf course. His write-up, with on course photos, from 2016 can be found here.

Manufacturers’ Golf and Country Club is located outside of Philadelphia in the suburb of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Before looking at the shot by shot photos, I wasn’t aware of the elevation that came with the course.

Chicago Golf Club

Getting these two images to work with each other was a struggle. For some reason I couldn’t get the 1946 aerial to line up on the 2015/16 aerial similar to what I had done for Shoreacres and Sand Hills Golf Club. Each time I had one point on the golf course lined up, another would skew. I cursed quite a bit at it, but still want to share the aerial image.

1946 Aerial

Aerial image of the Chicago Golf Club from 1946 that the US Geological Survey had available (click to enlarge).

After some feedback from my previous Shoreacres post that showed how the course looked nearly identical in 2015 as it did in 1946, I wanted to take a further look at how the course looked between the nearly 70 year time period.

Below is what I would consider somewhat of a time lapse. There are still some larger gaps based when aerials are available but over the time period, mowing lines, vegetation and bunkers varied.

I’ve always been amazed by golf course construction. The ability to take heavy machinery, fine grade and carve the land to exact elevations and get it to withstand the elements.

In the few projects I’ve been involved in, its always been a restoration or renovation where a golf course exists and the work is done within the existing footprint.

Sand Hills Golf Club didn’t appear to have a footprint to stay within.

I was able to find a few aerial photos from the USGS that were taken during construction, after opening and a photo from within the last few years.

The first photo compares during construction (approx 1992) to after opening (approx 1999). First thing I noticed was how many of the haul and access roads went on to become fairways when compete. Also notice the area and sequencing of when things were completed.

Next photo compares the 1999 photo with the more modern (approx 2015) photo. One thing that stuck out was how much some of the bunkers had changed in that time period.